In the wake of President Joe Biden’s debacle involving a Chinese spy balloon, a North Dakota town refuses to allow potentially prying eyes from Beijing to take root.
According to the Grand Forks Herald on Monday, the City Council there rejected a plan for a Chinese company to build a food-processing plant on 370 acres near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
As The Free Press has reported, the Fufeng Group’s acquisition is supposedly for a wet corn milling plant that would sit just 12 from the military installation.
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Yet the town voted unanimously against the project. Officials claimed that although Fufeng owns the property, the city could not feasibly service it with appropriate infrastructure.
Local media noted that the city was prepared to assist with the project when it first came up a year ago.
But the council’s vote this week came just after two pivotal events involving China.
First, North Dakota’s senators, both Republicans, released a letter from the Air Force that labeled the proposed operation a “significant” national security threat. Then, Biden allowed a Chinese spy balloon to traverse the country for a week before ordering it shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.
The balloon’s path took it over more than a dozen U.S. military installations.
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As of now, Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski told Fox News, “They have the land, but they have no ability to build anything on it.”
Fox News noted that Grand Forks Air Force Base is home to top-secret drone technology. While Fufeng was reportedly set to spend $700 million to open the corn mill, the company also has “deep ties” to the Chinese Communist Party.
The local media noted that while local residents were pleased with the outcome, many called for the city manager, city attorney, and council members to resign for their initial support of the project.
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